HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN News Briefs [19990721]

HORN OF AFRICA: News Briefs, 20 July

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: International community welcomes "progress"
on ending war

African leaders and members of the international community
have welcomed what they consider progress in diplomatic
moves to end the Ethiopian-Eritrean war arising out
of the OAU Summit meeting in Algiers last week. The
antagonists however remain at loggerheads over the
interpretation and significance of a seven-point modalities
agreement, unanimously accepted by the 35th assembly
of OAU heads of state and government.

"We do consider that this (agreement) is one of
the achievements of the Algiers summit," said
Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General of the OAU, quoted
by AP news agency. "We are on the way forward,
but that does not mean in any way that our problems
are over," he added. The US government also hailed
"the initial positive responses" by Eritrea
and Ethiopia to the modalities put forward, and said
it "hopes this proves to be an important step
towards a resolution of this devastating conflict".
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Susan
Rice, said "it was notable that the two sides'
initial response to this document was a constructive
and a positive one" and that while a formal agreement
was a long way off, there was "reason to be encouraged
at this development".

Combatants in new war of words on modalities agreement

While Eritrea announced its acceptance of the 'Modalities
for the Implementation of the OAU Framework Agreement',
it said in a statement that it was "imperative
to fully compensate deportees, if not for the irreparable
harm done to them, at least for expropriated property".
An estimated 60,000 Eritreans have been expelled from
Ethiopia - and over 40,000 Ethiopians from Eritrea
- since the war started.

Ethiopia has alleged that while the modalities were
consistent with "principles that Ethiopia has
insisted should be respected", Eritrea had only
nominally accepted the modalities but "removed
the substance of the proposal by trying to amend it".
A foreign ministry statement said Eritrean acceptance
included a demand of compensation for 56 villages allegedly
uprooted and for Eritrean urban deportees.

ERITREA: New wave of deportees arrives from Ethiopia

Thousands of Eritrean deportees from Ethiopia have arrived
in Assab and Massawa since the start of July, with
many disorientated, shocked or in poor condition after
difficult sea passages and complaining to aid workers
of their harsh treatment, humanitarian sources have
reported. Close to 3,000 people were said to have arrived
in Eritrea on 5 and 6 July, mostly from Addis Ababa,
with many having lost virtually all their possessions.
The deportees are understood to have been received
a small cash allocation, kitchen utensils and blankets
from the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Committee
(ERREC) and offered the choice of settling in either
Asmara or Dekemhare, accommodated in unoccupied schools.

A diplomatic source in Addis Ababa told IRIN of "substantial
deportations" from Addis Ababa on the weekend
of 10-11 July, mostly involving family members of Eritreans
previously deported as "security risks".
He said there was a view that Ethiopia had decided
to put pressure on the Eritrean economy by stepping
up on deportations. Meanwhile, humanitarian sources
have spoken of fears that thousands of Eritreans still
face deportation in the coming weeks. They said there
were real concerns about Eritrea's ability to cope
with deportees' immediate needs and ERREC had appealed
for cash support from donors to help it cope. There
were also worries about the absorption capacity of
Eritrean society in the long run, they added.

ETHIOPIA: Emergency report shows Amhara Region hard
hit

The latest revised figure for drought-affected people
requiring food assistance in Ethiopia is 5,378,671,
including 384,858 displaced people, the latest report
from the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia, received
by IRIN on Monday, has revealed. That figure, released
by the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission,
has risen from 4.6 million in June to accommodate an
increase in beneficiaries due to the failure of the
'belg' harvest. The total food needs from June until
the end of the year were reported to be 425,000 mt,
comprising 386,586 mt for drought-affected beneficiaries
and 38,558 mt required for displaced people affected
by the border war with Eritrea.

Over two and a quarter million require food assistance
in Amhara Region, the most seriously affected in terms
of the number of people at risk in the current Ethiopian
hunger crisis, the report stated. The South Wello district
of Amhara has been particularly affected by poor 'belg'
crop performance and the decimation of livestock populations.
Also hard hit has been the Afar Region, "where
pastoralists not only face drought, depressed markets
and food insecurity but economic hardships because
of the war", especially given the loss of the
Assab market, the report stated.

IFRC launches appeal for 40,000 "at extreme risk"
in South Wello

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies on Tuesday launched an appeal
for Ethiopian drought victims, targeting 40,000 people
- half of them children - at extreme risk in two heavily
belg-dependent woredas (districts) of South Wello in
the northern highlands. The Federation aims to raise
870,000 Swiss francs to provide supplementary food
assistance to children under five, pregnant and lactating
women, the elderly and the handicapped over a six-month
period.

The Federation appeal is in support of the Ethiopian
Red Cross which intends to provide the 40,000 people
with 2kg each of fortified cereal per month.

US donates $13.5 million in emergency food aid towards
WFP appeal

Meanwhile, the US government has signed a food aid agreement
worth US $13.5 million with WFP towards the agency's
operations in Ethiopia. The US pledged 31,000 mt of
food aid: 28,000 mt for emergency operations for the
most seriously drought-affected and 3,000 mt for those
displaced by war. WFP had appealed for 94,353 mt in
outstanding requirements for emergency food operations
from June to December, and an additional $24.3 million
to feed up to 272,000 Ethiopians displaced by the war
with Eritrea. "This major contribution goes a
long way to ease the pressure we've been under",
said WFP country director, Judith Lewis.

SOMALIA: Aideed claims Libya will mediate with Ethiopia

Somali faction leader Hussein Aideed has told reporters
in Mogadishu that Libya will host direct talks between
him and Ethiopian officials in a bid to avert all-out
war in Somalia, AP news agency reported. Aideed, who
claimed Ethiopian troops were only 180 km from the
capital, said the face-to-face meeting would take place
in Tripoli after Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi's return
from the OAU summit in Algiers that ended last week.

News agencies have cited reports of approximately 5,000
heavily armed Ethiopian soldiers crossing into Somalia
- 2,000 at Dolow and as many as 3,000 more at El-Bardeh
- and heading east, apparently to take Balidogle airport,
90 km west of Mogadishu, and the town of Qoroley, just
outside the key port of Merca and reputed to be the
headquarters of the Ethiopian rebel Oromo Liberation
front (OLF) in Somalia. Aideed is also reported by
Somali media to have made renewed appeals to Eritrea
in recent days to supply him with arms and troops,
and has threatened to force the Ethiopians out.

[This item is delivered in the "irin-english"
service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit,
but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations. For further information or free subscriptions,
or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org
or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN
. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item,
please retain this credit and disclaimer.]